The hidden underside of an iceberg: Laurent Ballesta’s best photograph

‘This iceberg in Antarctica was so vast, I had to dive down and take 147 photos in sub-zero water, then get a computer to join them up. Ten years on, my toes are still damaged’

As a kid, I was fascinated by the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau. There was nothing else quite like them – they were a weekly TV appointment. My family lived not too far from the sea and, although that coast wasn’t great for diving, my brother and I used to pretend we were exploring beneath the waves, like Cousteau. My parents would tell us not to go in the water straight after lunch, and warn us to stay away from crabs and jellyfish. When I got into my teens, I used to complain that they were only interested in going to the beach to take in the sun. I thought if my dad was a diver, or if we’d grown up in somewhere like French Polynesia, I could have learned so much more.

But now I realise that would probably have killed the sense of adventure that still drives me to this day. In my photography, I try to focus on the mysterious – creatures we know little or nothing about. The oceans are full of animals and places that have never been photographed, but reaching them often poses a challenge, sometimes a dangerous one. I think mysterious things inspire more respect than those that are merely beautiful, though. The urge to be in front of something bigger than me, something weird, strange or scary, something I don’t understand, is what pushes me to explore.

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